This is the central cafeteria for Stanford University. As such, many people are all-too-familiar with it, including myself. They also don't change their menu very often, so we all get very tired of the options.
It is a cafeteria with a few different options, including a salad bar, a BBQ area, "Chopstix", a Panini station, and pizza. I'll break it down from here.
Salad Bar: The salads are over-dressed to the point where it is more like a soup. Prices are $6-$7, although smaller pre-made salads in a cooler are $5.50, which are better with dressing in a little cup. The salads offered are usually a southwestern chicken salad, a Cobb salad, and (lately) a strawberry salad.
BBQ: This place has turkey sandwiches and plates, roast chicken, brisket sandwiches and plates, and chicken strips. The turkey sandwiches are alright, although overdressed with cranberry sauce. The roasted chicken is one of the better options. The brisket is usually disgusting since they don't trim the meat, meaning that you can get large sinuous blobs of fat instead of meat most times. It's hard to get chicken strips wrong. Sides include potato salad, coleslaw, fries, beans, and greens. The greens are poorly prepared, as are the beans. The fries are alright, as are the slaw and potato salad.
Chopstix: The food here is garbage. Stay away, and go to the "NetAppetit" food truck instead if you want this style of food. After yet another bad meal here, I vowed not to eat this crap again and told my classmates to knock the food out of my hands if I ever order it again. So far, so good.
Italian: The sandwiches ($6) are okay, although the "Bella Italia" tastes a lot like a hot dog, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The other ones (veggie, chicken) are mediocre. They come with a tasteless Caesar salad or pasta salad.
The pizza is bad, very bad, and not that cheap either.
The dining area is okay, and the outdoor area is quite nice. They now have bio-degradable containers and cutlery that are made from corn or potatoes, and they might taste better than the food inside.
So, to summarize, go somewhere else. I've seen Stanford Dining employees doing the same thing as I stood in line behind them at a taco truck at a construction site on campus. read more